RSS

Habs legend Béliveau hospitalized after suffering stroke

Jean Beliveau (right) © US Mission Canada

Montreal Habs legend Jean Béliveau (on the right) was hospitalized last Monday after he suffered a stroke.

According to CTV Montreal, the 80 year-old former Canadiens captain is currently undergoing treatment at Montreal General Hospital.

One of his former teammates told CTV he was in a worrisome health state. Béliveau has been suffering from throat cancer and heart problems for more than 15 years.

Fans and former teammates consider him as one of Canadiens greatest superstars. Béliveau played with the Habs for more than 20 years, including 10 as a captain. He retired in 1971 after winning 10 Stanley Cups and two Hart trophies for most valuable player.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a statement on Tuesday wishing him a speedy recovery.

Flickr photo by: US Mission Canada

'Pierre Poutine' suspected of giving false information to voters

According to CBC, a phone number used to give false information during last year’s election has been determined. The name registered is Pierre Poutine.

Apparently people in Guelph received calls from this number during last May. They were then told that their polling location had changed and given the location of a “new” one. The location had not changed however.

The name was obtained after elections Canada filed a production order for the call centre the calls were made through. According to Bell Pierre Poutine lives on Seperatist street, Joliette Quebec.

Pierre Poutine is the name of a restaurant in Guelph. Elections Canada is looking in to whether  foul play was involved.

Charest announces another $55 million for Plan Nord

Jean CharestQuebec Prime Minister Jean Charest announced Tuesday that an additional 55 million dollars will be invested in the Plan Nord.

The plan’s goal is to develop the northern region of Quebec in order to efficiently extract its natural resources. More specifically, they want to build Route 167 that will connect the city of Chibougamau to the Renard mine site which will become the first diamond mine in Quebec.

According to CTV Montreal, the added funds will mostly be used for on-the-job training projects, job fairs, and reaching out to those seeking work.

Geoff Kelley, the Minister of Native Affairs, says that the Charest government is trying to reach to the First Nation communities through these programs. Kelley also hopes to eradicate housing and social problems this way.

But the response isn’t all favorable. Opposition leaders fear that too much money from Quebecer taxpayers will be given to foreign companies.

Flickr photo by: psauve

Phife Dawg +David Hodges & The Honest Gentleman + Gee Wunder @ Club Soda

Sunday, February 19th was Baby Phife’s return to Montreal after an almost two decade hiatus.

The night started off around 8pm with an exclusive screening of the controversial documentary Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest. This was the first time I had the opportunity to see this film because it had only played for a very limited time in Montreal when it was first released in 2011. Now this isn’t a review about the film so I don’t want to get too deep into dissecting it’s pros and cons right now but it is definitely a must watch for any ATCQ fan, hip-hop fan or fan that puts their love and faith in the hands of artists who in the end are just people driven by personal agendas, personalities and needs. I will say that I do think the director put a little too much focus on the Phife/Q-Tip beef, but the film remains a precious documentation of one of the most influential hip-hop groups of all time.

Now as much as I highly appreciated the screening of Beats, Rhymes & Life, it seriously brought the energy level down in the crowd. Gauging by the dominant age group out that night, I feel like at least 50% of the crowd hadn’t even know that ATCQ had broken up on a bitter note so seeing this film right before Phife’s performance was a bit dream shattering.

Gee Wunder, who opened the show, received the immediate backlash of this low energy; people barely stood during his performance and those who were standing were clearly still digesting the film. Fortunately, Raz Fresco, a 17 year old Toronto native, managed to revive some life into the audience with his youthful energy and slick flow. By the end of his set the sound people at Club Soda had finally understood how to amp a hip-hop show so his verses were coming out crisp and clear. The last opener was David Hodges, a Montreal native, and his band The Honest Gentleman. Now this is something I love about Montreal artists, they’re really big on posses. It’s rarely ever just an MC and DJ, which brings a whole new level of life to the performance. With his 4-piece band and two featuring artists, David Hodges managed to get die-hard ATCQ fans swaying to a not-so-hip-hop-but-kinda sound. What was nice about his style was that the way he flipped from singing to rapping was as unassuming as our national Frenglish and opened the door to music genres that are usually unexplored at purely hip-hop shows.

Around 11pm, the five-foot assassin hit the stage with hard energy. He fed the crowd with a grand range of ATCQ classics and a bit of his new material. There were a few moments where his diabetes was affecting Phife’s rapping energy, but he filled in those spots quite smoothly by talking to the crowd and sharing his charismatic personality. His whole set was mad intimate, which was really nice for my die-hard ATCQ fanatic soul but looking around in the crowd I realized that this wasn’t the experience for all. A big part of the crowd didn’t know the lyrics to some of the classics and looked mad awkward when Phife would turn the mic to them. I realized then that these were mainly kids who have never experienced ATCQ in all its grandeur and only really know of Phife from a diluted version of his legacy. Phife’s show was great but his performance, the venue and the crowd were mismatched. Club Soda is too well lit and un-intimate to appropriately fit the vibe of the night and the crowd seemed to be expecting some sort of "Rock the Bells" type performance where you watch in awe and aren’t required to participate.

All in all, it’s clear that Phife Dawg is still the real steez and owns the lyrical game. Though if he were to come to Montreal again, I would much rather see him in a low stage venue where we could vibe eye to eye.

-MF Gold co-hosts Say Word! with Caity every Wednesday from 3-4pm

February 28th, 2012

Read by: Aisha Samu

Stories by: Aisha Samu, Esther Viragh, Jordie Yeager and Tara Brockwell

Produced by: Carlo Spiridigliozzi

A sleep-in against tuition hikes

If you are planning to pull an all nighter at the library, you will not be alone. The CSU is organizing a weeklong sleep-in as a protest against tuition hikes.

VP Chad Walcott says the choice of location was intentional. “As everyone knows, the library is the centre of knowledge and whether you are studying business or women’s studies, you have to come to the library at some point.”

The sleep-in informs students of the benefits of a strike and the consequences of tuition hikes. Gabriel Velasco is an undergrad who brought a sleeping bag.“Having 10, 20, 30 people that are really involved and passionate, sleeping together and being together every day, working on different things just creates a strong nucleolus of students that are active.”

The CSU will hold a generally assembly next week. It will then decide whether to go on strike or not. It hopes students will be ready to make an informed decision.

Photo by: Esther Viragh

Harper distances his party from robocall scandal

Prime Minister Stephen Harper announces federal funding for the rejuvenation of the Diefenbaker BuildingPrime Minister Stephen Harper denied that robocalls were a fixture in the Conservative party’s election campaign.

According to the Montreal Gazette Harper said he was unaware harassing and misleading phone calls were being made by opposition party imposters in last year’s campaign.

Fraudulent phone calls harassing voters and misleading them to non-existent polling stations were linked to RackNine Inc. and Responsive Marketing Group.

Both companies were used by Conservative party members.

Harper said his party gave any information they had to authorities and that it was now up to the opposition to back their widespread political conspiracy claims.

Flickr photo by: University of Saskatchewan

New campaign and polling dates for ASFA elections

The Arts and Science Federation of Associations has announced new campaign and polling dates for the ASFA Executive Council Elections.

Campaigning will run as of today until Sunday March 4. 

Elections will take place from March 5 till March 7 from 9am to 8pm each day at both the Sir George William Campus and Loyola Campus.

While candidates will continue to follow the same campaign rules, posters will not be allowed for the remainder of the election. However, online posters on social media sites will still be permitted.

Students who voted in the initial election will have to re-submit their votes as ballots cast on February 15 and 16 will not count.

ASFA decided to redo polling after it was revealed violations were committed in the first two days of polling.

ASFA Chief Electoral Officer Chris Webster shocked everyone when he resigned two hours before polling began on February 15.

Daycare workers in Quebec to make agreement with government

DaycarePublic daycare workers in Quebec are on strike, but will soon be reaching a tentative deal with the government.

According to CBC, union representatives from 360 Centres de petite enface have already approved the agreement.

The deal will provide an increase in wages, vacation hours, and benefits for daycare employees.

The new contract will be effective until March 31, 2015.

Flickr photo by: taberandrew

 

Watch out for the wealthy

Rich Vs PoorAccording to the Globe and Mail, studies have recently shown that wealthier people are more likely to break the law, lie and cheat.

A team of professors at the University of Toronto, California and Berkley conducted seven studies all of which involved 1,000 people. These studies showed that the upper-class are more likely to break the law while driving, steal valuables from others, lie in negotiations and cheat in order to gain financial benefits at work.

The reason for this moral difference between classes has been proven by the National Academy of Sciences. It has been said that wealthier people are more likely to believe that greed is good.

In fact, families with lower income are more likely to donate to charity than wealthier families.

Studies have also shown that honesty, integrity and generosity do not come easy for those who are of the upper class. 

Flickr photo by: Fox Fotography

Pages